Vajpayee's poems cost Pak writer dear

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>Title: Vajpayee's poems cost Pak writer dear

>Publication: The Times of India

> April 4, 2000

>

>NEW DELHI: Pakistani writer Aftab Hussain has taken refuge here

>after fleeing his country, following harassment by the military

>regime of Gen. Pervez Musharaff for publishing the translated

>version of a book written by Prime Minister Vajpayee. Hussain, who

>also refused to implicate the ousted premier of his country, Nawaz

>Sharif, on Monday said he had no option but to leave Pakistan.

>

Asked why he chose India even though he could have slipped into Iran

>or Dubai which were Muslim countries, Hussain said, ``India and

>Pakistan might be two nations today, but the tradition and culture

>of the two nations are the same.... In a way India is my second

>home after my motherland.''

 

>His troubles started after an Indian Urdu poet Jameel Akhther, who

>translated Vajpayee's poems, sent him a copy with the request to

>publish it in Pakistan.

>

>``Initially no publisher agreed, but as Vajpayee's visit to Lahore

>in 1999 was imminent, I managed to get the book published as a

>goodwill gesture and the Pakistani edition was presented to Prime

>Minister Vajpayee at the Governor's house,'' Hussain told reporters

>here.

>

>Hussain said he was not aware of what lay in store for him. After

>the military take-over, he was continuously harassed by the military

>regime for publishing the book.

>

>``The military rulers asked me to depose against Nawaz Sharif as an

>approver and ordered me to record a statement in the court that

>Sharif had asked me to publish the book,'' he said.

>

>``They threatened me with dire consequences and even ransacked my

>house on March 4,'' Hussain, who arrived here on March 16 by the

>Samjhauta Express, said.

>

>``The decision was painful but I was left with no option than to

>leave the country,'' he said.

>

>Hussain is not sure about the future but says he could either extend

>his visa or seek political asylum. ``I will decide about it in the

>coming days,'' he said.

>

>Hussain, who earlier toured India in 1998 when he was doing a

>doctorate on renowned Urdu critic Kalim-ud-din Ahmed, said the

>military dictators were hell-bent on framing all sorts of charges

>against Sharif. ``After the coup, security agencies descended on my

>house, asking me to explain the reason for publishing the book...

>They asked me to implicate Sharif but my conscience did not allow

>it,'' he said.

>>

>The 38-year-old Pakistani writer, who works as assistant professor

>of Urdu language and literature at the Lahore-based college of the

>Punjab University, is sure that his family would be targeted by the

>Pakistani army.

>

>A writer in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi languages, Hussain has

>translated a large number of poems and short stories from Hindi and

>other Indian languages to Urdu. (PTI)

>

 

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